chronicles of a girl on the run with her dog

Time to Buck Up!

Last night Tom told me we need to get aggressive with treatment for my plantar fasciitis. It is truly affecting me, my mood, not being able to run, which in turn is going to affect him—my crappy mood.

Let me say this for the record: I am not looking to learn to live with this. I’m looking to cure this thing!

walking boot

The Ugly Boot.
We both have been scouring the internet trying to get as informed as we can about this chronic problem. Tom thinks (after he spoke to someone who did this) that I should wear a walking boot brace for um… 6 weeks! That guy he talked to said it worked. Maybe. I looked at them and honestly, at this point, I would do anything. I’m already reduced down to wearing flat shoes all the time, what’s worse? I miss my heels.

So far, these last 3 weeks, this is what I’ve tried (and over the course of the last year).

3. Do none of the above. This advice from the Sock Doc, whose site I found from Green Girl Running’s blog. Which seemed like a good idea since none of the above have worked for the last year. So that is what I did. No orthotics, no nothing. The SocDoc has a different approach to injuries. He has a great video on planters where he recommends toe grabbing exercises. And to find the real problem which isn’t in your foot he believes. It could be from a muscle imbalance, or hormones or stress (yeah, I’ve got all that!) In his video he said to look for “hot spots” by running your fingers along the tibia bone. Yep… there was some major tenderness… so, Tom massaged that entire area–which was excruciatingly painful. The next day my leg was swollen and still tender. It took a few days to calm down. Now it feels 100% better. The Sock Doc even responded to my query:

Check out the Sock Doc Training Principles as PF is often associated with excess anaerobic training or overall stress. As with anything, the time it takes you to recover depends on what is causing your injury.

And ditch that primitive device (the foot brace) you have in your blog photo!

I threw it in the closet. I don’t know if his advice is sound, but I gave it a shot.

4. Stupidly, I started walking, because I thought it wasn’t going to be as punishing as running. Big mistake. Now, I’m doing zero foot pressure activities. Wah.

5. Last week I used an electric stimulator on my leg and foot. Not sure if it is helping or not, but I remember when I used it last summer on my other calf, the minor bout of plantar fasciitis went away. That could just be coincidence to the fact that I also didn’t run for 6 weeks.

all hooked up!

6. I cried. Not sure if it was just over not running, but that led to the last post I wrote. Yes, I’m human and vulnerable. It helped a little.

sad michele

7. I sought advice from my running friend, Green Girl (Maili). She recommended most of the stuff I’ve tried. We also discussed ART (Active Release Therapy) and she suggested trying Rainbow Light’s TheraMend, which I just took today, for inflammation. I have not been using NSaids at all since last spring to treat this. I hope this helps.

8. I started wearing my primitive night splint again. It does seem to help even though it is not so comfortable. I woke up at 2:45 last night wanting to rip it off but Tom’s words of ‘try to wear it all night’ got the better of me. I did.

9. I’m massaging my calfs and feet at night.

10. I’ve made an appointment for ART for next Monday. Sadly I have to wait 5 days for that. But I’m hopeful.

If all else fails, I am also considering acupuncture. I’m sure the best piece of advice is wait. Don’t run, don’t walk, don’t bike. Find another temporary outlet. Tom is pushing P90X. I do like Tony Horton videos.

So there we are. Or I am. I am still going to fight this… so, I’m not giving up!! I promise. I was just having a bad day the other day… we all have those.

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. ~ Walt Disney

There is a shoe/sock you can wear at night that stretches your foot out. It’s quite unattractive but my friends swear by it! If you do end up in a boot, check out our company, http://www.castmedicdesigns.com. We’ll help you look and heal your best those 6 weeks. Happy Healing!